TREASURY

Pathfinder Money Guidance Service

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to review the outcome of the pathfinder Money Guidance service announced in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The pathfinder Money Guidance service, covering the North West and North East of England, launched on 14 April and will run until March 2010. On current plans, interim evaluation findings will be available in the autumn and evaluation will be completed in spring 2010. The Treasury will review interim and final evaluation findings to inform decisions on national roll-out of the Money Guidance service.

VAT: Buildings

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on the application of value added tax to fees charged for the repair and maintenance of listed buildings; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The Government have had a number of representations on this matter and it continues to keep the impact of VAT on all building work under review.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Anguilla: Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1193W, on the Caribbean: crime, what funding the UK provided for the establishment of the Drugs and Crime Task Force in Anguilla.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has provided approximately £50,000 in funding for the establishment of the Drugs and Gun Crime Task Force in Anguilla.
	The Drug and Gun Crime Task Force was established in 2006 by the Commissioner of Police in Anguilla. On the request of the government of Anguilla, the FCO provided co-funding for experienced, retired officers from the UK to train and mentor the task force following its inception. The task force is now fully funded by the Royal Anguilla Police Force.

British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009,  Official Report, column 166W, on British Overseas Territories: young offenders, how many records on the Overseas Territories Regional Criminal Intelligence System relate to people trafficking offences.

Chris Bryant: There are 199 records held on the Overseas Territories Regional Criminal Intelligence System related to people trafficking.

British Virgin Islands: Crimes of Violence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 1848-49W, on the British Virgin Islands: crimes of violence, how many of the crimes were committed against British tourists in each year.

Chris Bryant: The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force is responsible for the collation of crime statistics. However, they have advised that they do not routinely record crime statistics according to the victim's nationality or immigration status.

Cayman Islands: Crimes of Violence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2009 on the Cayman Islands: crimes of violence, how many of the crimes were committed against British tourists in each year.

Chris Bryant: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron) the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, on 1 June 2009,  Official Report, column 219W, which states that the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service do not record crime statistics according to nationality and are therefore unable to supply this information.

Departmental Data Protection

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many breaches of information security there have been at  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies in the last five years.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) reports all significant personal data security breaches to the Cabinet Office and to the Information Commissioner. Information on personal data incidents is published on an annual basis in the Department's annual resource accounts as was announced in the Data Handling Review published on 25 June 2008. In 2008-09 the FCO recorded no major personal data incidents that required reporting to the Information Commissioner. Nine personal data incidents were centrally reported and recorded. In each case mitigating action was taken. Figures for 2007-08 were published in the last year's annual resource accounts. It is not possible to provide the details for previous years without incurring disproportionate cost.
	Additionally, all significant control weaknesses including other significant security breaches are included in the Statement of Internal Control which is published within the annual resource accounts.

Economic and Monetary Union

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what activities have been undertaken by his Department's Euro Minister in that capacity.

Chris Bryant: The Government's policy on membership of the single currency remains as set out in my right hon. Friend the then Chancellor of the Exchequer's statement on the five tests assessment in June 2003. In principle, the Government are in favour of UK membership; in practice the economic conditions must be right. The determining factor is the national economic interests and whether, on the basis of an assessment of the five economic tests, the economic case for joining is clear and unambiguous. Euro Ministers are responsible for Euro preparations in their Department and attend Euro Ministers Steering Group meetings as necessary. However, meetings are held only when necessary to discuss practical preparations to ensure that a smooth changeover would occur if and when the five tests had been met.

Egypt: Borders

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions  (a) he and  (b) officials in his Department have had with the government of Egypt on the opening to cargo of the Rafah border crossing; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 25 June 2009
	It is vital that aid reaches the people in Gaza who need it. The UK has been consistent in its calls for better humanitarian access to the area. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has raised this issue on a number of occasions, most recently in his statement to the UN Security Council on 11 May 2009.
	My predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell) raised the issue of access through the Rafah crossing for humanitarian aid providers with the Egyptian Government when he was in Egypt on 21 May 2009. All aid to Gaza from Egypt is channelled through the Egyptian Red Crescent.

Iran: Demonstrations

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the recent unrest in Iran; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Diplomatic and media reporting, based on eyewitness testimony, has highlighted the violent and unacceptable response by the Iranian authorities to peaceful and legitimate protests by the Iranian people.
	Iranian state media reports say that more than 20 protestors have been killed. Other reports suggest that several hundred people have been arrested since the announcement of the result by the electoral commission on 13 June 2009.
	Both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have made clear on a number of occasions that we deplore the violence against those who seek to protest peacefully, and that the media repression is unacceptable. And we have called on the Iranian authorities to investigate fully allegations that have been made about the election.
	We continue to monitor the situation closely.

Iran: Demonstrations

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the security of staff in the British Embassy in Tehran.

Ivan Lewis: The safety of our staff and their families in Iran is of paramount concern. We take our responsibility for their security and that of our embassy premises extremely seriously.
	In response to the recent political unrest in Iran we changed our travel advice to advise against all but essential travel to Iran. As a consequence of this advice, we withdrew the dependents of our staff from Tehran on 23 June 2009.
	We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Overseas Aid: Terrorism

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to Part 2, section 8, page 61 of the Government document, Pursue, Prevent, Protect, Prepare, published in March 2009, which countries have been assessed for counter-terrorism capacity; what funding has been provided to which countries under this initiative to date; how much his Department has budgeted for the project in the next three years; from what sources such funding will be drawn; and with which other Departments he has been working to deliver this project.

Ivan Lewis: £127 million has been allocated to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Counter Terrorism and Radicalisation Programme from 2008-09 to 2010-11. Work will be carried out in priority countries in the Middle East, South and South East Asia, and North and East Africa. Projects are designed to improve CT capabilities. We cannot provide budgetary details for specific projects or individual countries due to the sensitivity of some of the work.
	In delivering the Pursue strand of the Contest strategy, we are working with a range of Departments and agencies, including the Ministry of Defence, intelligence and security agencies, Home Office and the Metropolitan Police Service, who also contribute their own resources to delivering Contest overseas.

Sri Lanka

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to Sri Lanka next plans to visit the country; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, (Des Browne) visited Sri Lanka from 4 to 7 May 2009 in his capacity as a Member of Parliament and as part of a cross party delegation. We are in contact with the Sri Lankan authorities to seek a mutually convenient opportunity for a further visit by a cross party delegation of MPs. Our intention would be for Mr. Browne to again take part.

Sudan: Armed Conflict

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of  (a) Uganda and  (b) Sudan in respect of the recent upsurge in violent activities by the Lord's Resistance Army in southern Sudan.

Ivan Lewis: Officials at our High Commission in Kampala have had discussions with the Government of Uganda on Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) activity and stressed the importance of both continued regional cooperation to deal with the threat and protection of civilian populations from LRA attacks. Officials at our embassy office in Juba are also monitoring the situation closely and have raised the issue with other interested parties, including the UN.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Demos

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what  (a) private meetings and  (b) public engagements Ministers in her Department have attended at which representatives from the think-tank Demos were present in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
	I can confirm that my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (James Purnell) attended the following public engagements at which representatives from the think-tank Demos were present in the last 12 months.
	
		
			   Meeting 
			 5 January 2009 Richard Reeves, Demos 
			 23 March 2009 Richard Reeves, Demos 
			 7 May 2009 Demos Reception

Departmental Training

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what training courses have been attended by special advisers in her Department in the last 12 months; and at what cost.

Jim Knight: Special advisers receive training as appropriate to enable them to fulfil their duties and responsibilities as set out in the "Model Contract for Special Advisers".

Vocational Training

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps she is taking to provide relevant training to help back into employment those who became unemployed during the recession.

Jim Knight: The Budget made an additional £2.8 billion available to DWP, on top of the £1.3 billion funding announced in the pre-Budget report, which will ensure that over the next two years we can continue to expand our support to jobseekers through the economic downturn. From early 2010 all 18 to 24-year-olds will be guaranteed an offer of a job (either a new job through the Future Jobs Fund or an existing job in a key employment sector), work focused training, or a place on a Community Task Force. The Future Jobs Fund—worth around £1 billion—will create 150,000 new jobs for long-term unemployed people and will contribute significantly to the guaranteed offer for young people.
	The Government are investing £0.5 billion over two years to support people through an expanded range of work and training options, to provide jobs through recruitment subsidies, support to start a business, work-related training and volunteering opportunities. This support includes access to 75,000 new work-focused training opportunities to help customers significantly increase their skills in order to enter work. The training, delivered on a part-time or full-time basis, will support people in progressing towards a full qualification. This extra help was introduced on 6 April and is available to all those who have been out of work and claiming jobseeker's allowance for six months or more.
	In addition, in response to the current economic downturn, the Government have announced that:
	Funding of £158 million has been made available through the European Social Fund for the Learning and Skills Council's Train to Gain programme for people who are newly unemployed or facing redundancy to undertake training linked to opportunities in the local labour market.
	Local Employment Partnerships (LEPs) have been made available to all claimants from day one of unemployment.
	We have removed barriers to full time training making it easier for long-term unemployed people to get access to new skills in order to compete for the local jobs on offer. The Government have put the funding arrangements in place to enable jobseekers at the six month point in their claim to move to a training allowance in order to benefit from full time intensive training of up to eight weeks, designed to meet employers' needs.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Parliament: ICT

David Drew: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what progress the Commission has made in its review of the performance of parliamentary IT systems; and how many times House of Commons IT systems have been shut down in the last 12 months.

Nick Harvey: The recommendations made in the Administration Committee's report on Information and Communication Technology Services for Members (HC 498) are mostly completed. This has resulted in improvements being made to services and a clarification of the services offered.
	PICT's major three year programme of infrastructure renewal began in April 2008 and remains on track. Renewal of the core services of e-mail and MS Office are due for completion by autumn 2009.
	The parliamentary IT systems have experienced partial outages on 10 occasions in the last 12 months, two of which were for upgrades to security patches.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many soldiers serving in Afghanistan since Operation Herrick began have returned from Afghanistan as a  (a) single and  (b) multiple amputee; and if he will make a statement. (260368)

Kevan Jones: holding answer 3 March 2009
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary gave on 16 December 2008,  Official Report, column 554W to the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell).
	We are currently reviewing the available information concerning amputations which have occurred as a result of Op Herrick, while ensuring that patient confidentiality is maintained. I will write to the hon. Member with the results of this review.
	 Substantive answer from Kevan Jones to  Andrew Robathan:
	The Academic Department of Military Emergency Medicine (ADMEM) at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Birmingham, has recently begun to collate amputation statistics on a quarterly basis. Their records show that, between 1 April 2006 and 31 march 2009, a total of 51 UK Service personnel have suffered amputations due to injuries sustained while on operation deployment on OP HERRICK. These amputations can range from the loss of part of a finger or toe up to the loss of entire limb(s). There is no consolidated record of the number or nature of the amputations for each patient and that information could only be collated at disproportional cost.
	Prior to 1 April 2006, comprehensive records were not held centrally and historic date could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	I hope this provides you with the information you require.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures are followed when a breach of the rules of engagement in Afghanistan by  (a) UK and  (b) allied military personnel are reported; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: For UK armed forces personnel, standard military investigation procedures would be used to investigate a report that the rules of engagement had been breached. Other nations will have their own procedures which it would not be appropriate to comment on.

Armed Forces: Vehicles

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military vehicles of each type were reported  (a) stolen and  (b) missing in the United Kingdom in each year since 1997.

Bill Rammell: The information requested is not held in the format requested. The following table provides the number of military vehicles reported to the MOD Police as stolen during the period from 1999-2009. Information is not available prior to 1999.
	
		
			  Military vehicles reported stolen by year 
			   Car  Land Rover  Mini-Bus  Van  Motorcycle  Quad Bike  Fork lift 
			 
			 1999 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 
			 2000 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 2001 3 3 0 0 3 0 0 
			 2002 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 
			 2003 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 
			 2004 0 2 0 0 1 4 0 
			 2005 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 
			 2006 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2007 0 0 0 1 8 1 1 
			 2008 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 
			 2009 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 10 7 1 2 17 11 2

Departmental Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which  (a) sections of his Department and  (b) non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible have requested money saved from efficiency savings to be used for increased pay in their 2009 pay offers to staff.

Kevan Jones: Neither the main department nor those non-departmental public bodies who have their own pay arrangements have sought to use additional money saved from efficiency savings to increase pay in 2009.
	I refer the hon. Member to the information published in the civil service pay guidance 2009-10.

Piracy: Navy

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for New Forest East of 22 June 2009,  Official Report, column 626W, on piracy, under what authority the Royal Navy seizes piracy equipment from suspected pirates.

Bill Rammell: Royal Navy vessels participating in counter-piracy operations are provided with detailed rules of engagement (ROE) setting out the measures they may take in relation to pirate vessels, including the seizure of suspected pirate vessels and equipment. These ROE are in accordance with international law, including the United Nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS), and are kept under regular review.

QinetiQ: Location

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the effect on employment of the decision by QinetiQ to relocate operations from the Hebrides Range to Aberporth Range.

Quentin Davies: The Hebrides and Aberporth Ranges are owned by the MOD and operated on its behalf by QinetiQ. The MOD proposes to relocate only trials control from the Hebrides Ranges to the Aberporth Ranges. Current levels of trials and training activity at the Hebrides Range are expected to remain broadly unchanged. Under the proposals up to 125 jobs would be lost at the Hebrides Ranges and up to 20 at the Aberporth Ranges.

QinetiQ: Location

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make an assessment of the effects on the  (a) economy and  (b) society of the Western Isles of QinetiQ's decision to relocate operations from the Hebrides Range to Aberporth Range.

Quentin Davies: The consultation documentation on the proposed changes involving the Hebrides and Aberporth Ranges, issued on 17 June 2009, contains Regional Socio-Economic reports on both the Western Isles and Ceredigion. It also contains a survey of the Regional Impact on Employment of the proposed changes to activities at Hebrides Ranges. This estimates that, in addition to the 125 direct job losses at the Range itself, there could be about 40 further induced or indirect job losses in the wider economy.

QinetiQ: Location

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department consulted  (a) community representatives,  (b) representatives of QinetiQ employees,  (c) local enterprise agencies and  (d) Comhairle nan Eilean Siar before QinetiQ's decision to relocate operations from the Hebrides Range to Aberporth Range.

Quentin Davies: The MOD wrote to all major stakeholders for both the Aberporth and Hebrides Ranges in July 2007 outlining the study into the future of the ranges and the possible implications for the sites and workforce. Further letters were sent in June 2009 outlining the proposals and entering into a formal period of consultation which will conclude in August 2009.
	A meeting has been held at ministerial level with the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar. Offers were made to meet with the chief executive of the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and other representatives. MOD officials have also met with the National Trust for Scotland and other parties with an interest in the island of St. Kilda on a number of occasions.

QinetiQ: Location

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has had discussions with the Scottish Government on QinetiQ's decision to relocate its operations from the Hebrides Range to Aberporth Range.

Quentin Davies: The MOD wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney MSP, at the beginning of the study into the future of the Hebrides and Aberporth Ranges in July 2007 and to Minister for Europe, External affairs and Culture, Michael Russell MSP, in June 2009 on completion of the study to inform him of the decision in principle. There has also been informal contact at official level.

QinetiQ: Location

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Hebrides Range is used for weapons testing by countries other than the UK.

Quentin Davies: Since the beginning of the Long Term Partnering Arrangement in 2003, under which QinetiQ operates a number of key test and evaluation facilities on behalf of the MOD, the following countries have used the MOD Hebrides Range for weapons testing and military training:
	USA in 2003-04
	Switzerland in 2005 (also scheduled to use the Range in 2010)
	Germany in 2004-05 (also scheduled to use the Range in 2010)
	Denmark in 2005 and 2007
	Italy in 2003 (support role)
	Netherlands in 2008 (Marines)
	Sweden in 2007 and 2009.
	NATO also uses the range annually.

White Phosphorus

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any munitions containing white phosphorus manufactured in the UK have been used in theatres of military operation against UK armed forces in the last 10 years.

Bill Rammell: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

TRANSPORT

Bus Services: Concessions

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many pensioners in  (a) Merseyside and  (b) Crosby received a concessionary bus pass in the latest period for which figures are available.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport is not responsible for issuing passes and so does not maintain records of how many passes individual authorities have issued.
	Merseyside and Crosby are part of the Merseytravel area. The last information held by the Department is that as of March 2009 Merseytravel had issued 307,132 passes to older and disabled people.

Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2009,  Official Report, column 704W, on the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission, who the UK representatives on the Intergovernmental Commission are; and how they were selected.

Chris Mole: The UK delegation to the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) currently comprises: Roy Griffins, Head of the UK delegation; Richard Clifton, Head of the UK delegation to the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority; Chris Whomersley, Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Tom Dowdall, Home Office; Herve Mathevet, HM Revenue and Customs; Linda Willson, Department for Transport; and Brian Kogan, Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). The delegation may be accompanied at meetings by expert advisers in relation to specific items on the agenda.
	The Head of UK delegation, the Safety Authority representative, and the Office of Rail Regulation member are appointed by the Department following consultation with the Office of Rail Regulation. The Department also appoints its own representative. The remaining members of the UK delegation are nominated by the department or authority they represent.

Channel Tunnel Railway Line

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2009,  Official Report, column 704W, on the Channel Tunnel railway line: fares, if he will request the Intergovernmental Commission to raise with Eurotunnel the level of track access charges through the Channel Tunnel, with particular reference to the implementation of his policy of encouraging  (a) high speed passenger rail traffic and  (b) international rail freight.

Chris Mole: Under Article 12(1) of the Treaty of Canterbury of 1986, Eurotunnel are free, within the framework of national and Community law, to determine their commercial policy and tariffs.
	It would be improper for the Intergovernmental Commission to consider any representation from the Department for Transport on this matter.

Channel Tunnel Railway Line

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to his answer of 18 June 2009,  Official Report, column 427W, on the Channel Tunnel railway line, for what reason no recent assessment of the effect of track access charges on the potential growth of international freight through the Channel Tunnel has been made.

Chris Mole: Any assessment of the effect of track access charges on the potential growth of international freight through the Channel Tunnel is a matter for Eurotunnel and the rail freight operators.

Cross-Channel Rail

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will take steps to ensure that SNCF does not secure a disproportionate share of cross-Channel rail traffic.

Chris Mole: It is for the rail operators to market their services to customers. As such the Department for Transport is not in a position to interfere in shares of cross-channel rail traffic.

Departmental Billing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 3 June 2009,  Official Report, column 484W, on departmental billing, how much his Department's non-departmental public bodies paid in interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years.

Chris Mole: One of the Department for Transport's non-departmental public bodies, the Commission for Integrated Transport, incurred a cost of £91.13 (£50.00 late payment interest and a penalty charge of £41.13) in 2008-09 under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
	None of the Department for Transport's other non-departmental public bodies paid interest under the Act for the last three years.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Manpower

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency office in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Driving: Licensing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many applications for driving licences were found to be supported by birth certificates which claimed to but did not relate to the applicant in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: The following table provides the number of applications for a driving licence, over the last four financial years, that were supported with a birth certificate that appeared not to relate to the applicant. These figures were not recorded before April 2005:
	
		
			  Financial year  Total 
			 2008-09 73 
			 2007-08 59 
			 2006-07 65 
			 2005-06 31

High Speed Trains

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what consideration he has given to the merits of transferring High Speed 1 to Network Rail.

Chris Mole: Having considered various options, on 1 March 2006, the Secretary of State for Transport announced that the best way of delivering continuing value for money for the taxpayer in relation to the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (since renamed High Speed 1) would be for there to be an open, transparent and competitive process. The Government are currently engaged in a restructuring of London and Continental Railways. Following this, it is the Government's intention, as market conditions allow, to sell, via an open and competitive auction, a long-term concession for High Speed 1 in such a way as to maximise value for money for the taxpayer.

Motorcycles: Driving Instruction

Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what plans his Department has to review  (a) the compulsory basic training for moped riders and  (b) the moped riding age.

Paul Clark: The Driving Standards Agency is reviewing the current arrangements for training learner moped riders in line with the commitments in the Government's Motorcycle Strategy and plans to consult later this year. We have no plans to change our current minimum age of 16 years for riding mopeds.

Railways: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport which railway stations in the London Borough of Bexley have received financial support from his Department for the installation of step-free access since 1997.

Chris Mole: Access for all small schemes funding of around £41,000 has so far been offered towards step-free access projects with a total value of about £86,000 in the Bexley Borough. This funding is being used to provide mobile access ramps at Purfleet; removal of steps to the entrance and widening of the footpath at Welling; a low gradient pathway to the platform at Barnehurst; and a dropped kerb at Bexley.
	The latest application pack for Small Schemes funding, for projects to be delivered in 2010-11, is now on the Department for Transport website at www.dft.gov.uk/accessunder 'Rail' and we would welcome further applications.

Roads: Accidents

John Randall: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many road deaths there were in  (a) London and  (b) the London borough of Hillingdon in each of the last three years for which records are available; how many of those killed were (i) drivers, (ii) vehicle passengers and (iii) pedestrians; how many such deaths occurred in 30 miles per hour zones; and how many were attributable to excess speed.

Paul Clark: The information requested is given in the following tables. Information on contributory factors is not available below Government Office Region level since the number of accidents is small and therefore it may be possible to identify individuals, so fatalities involving excess speed are not shown for Hillingdon.
	
		
			  Road accident fatalities in London and in the London borough of Hillingdon: 2006-08 
			  Number of fatalities 
			2006  2007  2008 
			  Region  Casualty type  All roads  30 mph roads  All roads  30 mph roads  All roads  30 mph roads 
			 London Driver or rider 104 71 85 65 93 68 
			  Passenger 27 15 28 25 17 11 
			  Pedestrian 100 80 109 102 95 86 
			  All casualties 231 166 222 192 205 165 
			 
			 London borough of Hillingdon(1) Driver or rider 3 2 6 3 7 6 
			  Passenger 1 0 2 1 0 0 
			  Pedestrian 2 1 1 0 6 6 
			  All casualties 6 3 9 4 13 12 
			 (1) Excluding Heathrow airport. 
		
	
	
		
			  Fatalities in London in accidents where excess speed was reported( 1) : 2006-08 
			  Number of fatalities 
			   2006  2007  2008 
			  Casualty type  All roads  30 mph roads  All roads  30 mph roads  All roads  30 mph roads 
			 Driver or rider 56 37 21 14 20 15 
			 Passenger 10 7 11 11 2 2 
			 Pedestrian 26 23 21 19 6 6 
			 All casualties 92 67 53 44 28 23 
			 (1) Includes accidents where one of the contributory factors exceeding the speed limit or travelling too fast for conditions was reported, and in which a police officer attended the scene and a contributory factor was reported.

Roads: Construction

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport 
	(1)  how much funding his Department has allocated to the construction of highways in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much funding his Department has allocated to the creation of additional lanes on highways in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each of the last five years.

Sadiq Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I have given him today (UIN 281849).
	In addition to that answer, the following table provides information on what funding the Department for Transport has allocated to the creation of additional lines on highways in  (a) Essex in each of the last five years. Information is not held centrally on funding that has been allocated to  (b) Castle Point.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Schemes  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 M25 junction 27-30 widening 2.820 4.200 6.113 3.874 3.790 
			 M25 junction 28/A12 Brook Street junction improvement 0.054 0.300 3.387 9.790 0.000 
			 M11 junction 8 to 9 Climbing Lanes 1.520 0.800 0.000 0.000 0.000 
			 Great Leighs Bypass (local transport major scheme) (see note) 1.400 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 
			  Note: This scheme had earlier funding prior to 2004-05.

Roads: Finance

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much capital funding has been spent on roads in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each of the last five years.

Sadiq Khan: The following table provides information on how much capital funding has been spent on roads in  (a) Essex in each of the last five years. Information is not held centrally on funding that has been allocated to  (b) Castle Point constituency.
	
		
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Highways agency major schemes (costing over £5 million) 2.1 4.7 4.9 14.3 4.8 
			 Highways agency schemes (costing under £5 million) 0.583 4.113 0.365 2.396 1.016 
			 Local highway authority schemes (costing over £5 million) 0 1.4 0 0 0 
			 Community infrastructure funding 0 0 0.534 4.446 3.503 
		
	
	In addition, Ministers also announced on 29 March 2009 funding for three further community infrastructure fund schemes being promoted by Essex county council. No expenditure has yet to be provided to the following schemes:
	New A12 Junction—£11.2 million
	First Avenue Multi Modal Corridor—£3.58 million
	A414 dualling—£9.9 million.
	The Department for Transport also provides integrated transport block and highways maintenance funding to local transport authorities, which would include Essex county council. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 June 2009,  Official Report, column 773W, which provides the funding support provided to Essex county council in the last five years.

Roads: Safety

Mark Hunter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the Government's further response, HC (2008-09) 422, to paragraph 132 of the Eleventh Report of the Transport Committee, Session 2007-08, HC 460, how many members the proposed independent expert panel on road safety will have; and what criteria will apply to the appointment of members to the panel.

Paul Clark: holding answer 25 June 2009
	The current consultation on a new road safety strategy includes a proposal to create a new independent expert panel to improve both the assessment of trends in road deaths and the scrutiny of road safety more generally.
	It would be wrong to prejudge the consultation by discussing the details of the new panel before it is confirmed that such a body should exist. However, any such appointments would need to comply with the Code of the Office of the Commissioner on Public Appointments.

Roads: Safety

Mark Hunter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the Government's further response, HC (2008-09) 422, to paragraph 156 of the Eleventh Report of the Transport Committee, Session 2007-08, HC 460, how many safety representatives from each mode will be a part of the cross-modal group; and who these representatives are.

Paul Clark: holding answer 25 June 2009
	The Transport Safety Group brings together policy officials from within Department for Transport working on aviation, shipping rail, dangerous goods and road user safety, along with colleagues from the Rail Accident Investigation Bureau, the Marine Accident Investigation Bureau and the Air Accident Investigation Bureau. Each area is typically represented by one colleague though there is no formal limit. Attendance will vary depending on the issues under discussion.

Transport

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the average number of journeys per day by each mode of transport between London and destinations in Castle Point constituency in the latest period for which figures are available.

Sadiq Khan: The requested information is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Vehicle Certification Agency: Manpower

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff there were in each Vehicle Certification Agency office in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: The information requested on the number of Vehicle Certification Agency staff in each category has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Vehicle Certification Agency: Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much was paid in bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in the Vehicle Certification Agency in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) paid the following bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist and delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in each of the last five years:
	
		
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			  Performance related bonuses   
			  (a) Directors (1)— (1)— (1)— 600 1,250 1,750 
			  (b) Senior managers (1)— (1)— (1)— 450 3,100 1,800 
			  (c) Specialist and delivery managers (1)— (1)— (1)— 3,750 4,750 6,850 
			  (d) Executive support and administration staff (1)— (1)— (1)— 17,225 13,750 15,750 
			 Total (performance related) 21,478 14,946 18,192 22,025 22,850 26,150 
			
			  VCA Group bonus(2) 0 0 30,482 91,075 165,000 n/a 
			 Estimated breakdown (equal shares)   
			  (a) Directors (1)— (1)— 1,980 7,814 12,526 n/a 
			  (b) Senior managers (1)— (1)— 1,980 7,814 12,526 n/a 
			  (c) Specialist and delivery managers (1)— (1)— 3,080 12,156 19,486 n/a 
			  (d) Executive support and administration staff (1)— (1)— 23,442 63,291 120,462 n/a 
			
			 Total amount paid to all groups 0 0 30,482 91,075 165,000 n/a 
			 (1) No breakdown available (2) Paid in following years 
		
	
	VCA chief executive is in addition to above and published in VCA's annual report and accounts.

OLYMPICS

Departmental Manpower

Don Foster: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many full-time equivalent officials in her Office are working on  (a) project management,  (b) legacy planning,  (c) project oversight,  (d) financial oversight and  (e) other matters relating to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; and what plans she has for future staffing levels in each case.

Tessa Jowell: In my capacity as Minister for the Cabinet Office, the Olympics, London, Humanitarian Assistance and Paymaster General, my private office is currently staffed by a team of nine officials (of which there is one vacancy) and two special advisers (of which there is one vacancy). Between them they cover my full portfolio of responsibilities. This includes the project, legacy, financial and other functions for which my staff in the Government Olympic Executive (GOE) are responsible.
	The GOE report to me through the permanent secretary of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Their roles and future staffing plans are included in the answer to be provided by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Speaker: Elections

John Mann: To ask the Leader of the House if she will publish lists of all hon. Members who participated in each round of voting to elect a Commons Speaker on 22 June 2009.

Barbara Keeley: No list of Members who voted in the secret ballot is compiled.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts: East of England

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department has allocated to  (a) visual arts,  (b) musical arts,  (c) music festivals,  (d) public art,  (e) art galleries,  (f) the development of local artists and  (g) theatrical arts in (i) Mid Bedfordshire constituency and (ii) the East of England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: Arts Council England is the national development agency for the arts in England. It distributes public money from Government and the national lottery. Arts Council England advises that it has allocated funding as set out in the following tables.
	 Regularly Funded Organisations
	Arts Council England's portfolio of Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs) is funded from grant in-aid. In Mid-Bedfordshire there are no RFOs.
	
		
			  East of England 
			  £ 
			  Artform  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Combined arts 401,461 594,376 727,505 762,002 791,557 729,617 746,543 
			 Dance 289,273 289,151 315,073 397,943 469,412 559,697 593,874 
			 Literature 102,195 136,323 304,891 320,275 400,762 399,851 410,848 
			 Music 628,035 888,888 1,151,906 1,691,634 1,584,874 1,859,260 2,145,369 
			 Not artform specific 275,930 396,258 112,248 467,104 424,535 332,547 286,848 
			 Theatre 1,863,565 2,301,408 3,014,297 3,142,331 3,215,218 3,431,029 3,567,132 
			 Visual arts total 804,822 888,107 1,122,257 1,279,136 1,429,332 1,383,999 1,427,390 
			 Total 4,365,281 5,494,511 6,748,177 8,060,425 8,315,690 8,696,000 9,178,004 
		
	
	Prior to 2002-03, the Regional Arts Boards were independent bodies and they maintained records according to their own systems and requirements. Consequently, limited compatible figures for the RFO portfolio are available for earlier years.
	
		
			  Grants for the Arts—Individuals 
			  £ 
			   Mid-Bedfordshire 
			  Artform  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  Total 
			 Combined arts — — — — — — 
			 Dance — — — — — — 
			 Literature — — — — — — 
			 Music — — — — — — 
			 Not known — — — — — — 
			 Theatre — 4,023 — — — 4,023 
			 Visual arts — — — 1,860 — 1,860 
			 Total — 4,023 — 1,860 — 5,883 
		
	
	
		
			  £ 
			   East of England 
			  Artform  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  Total 
			 Combined arts 10,278 63,439 26,473 10,890 — 111,080 
			 Dance 6,533 66,425 23,715 105,215 14,296 216,184 
			 Literature 88,471 112,422 109,558 100,438 30,510 441,399 
			 Music 18,494 69,027 91,338 90,104 7,565 276,528 
			 Not artform specific 6,595 12,190 250 2,104 — 21,139 
			 Theatre 8,635 271,080 129,542 55,435 23,500 488,192 
			 Visual arts 176,610 384,554 245,833 409,560 30,908 1,247,464 
			 Total 315,616 979,136 626,708 773,746 106,779 2,801,985 
		
	
	The Grants for the Arts Programme began in 2003-04. The Programme funds individuals, arts organisations and other people who use the arts in their work. The Grants for the Arts—Organisations strand has always been lottery funded (see next table); the Grants for the Arts—Individuals strand was funded from Grant-in-Aid until 2007-08, and has been lottery funded since then.
	
		
			  Lottery funding 
			  £ 
			   Mid-Bedfordshire 
			  Artform  1997-98  1998-99  1999-00  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03 
			 Not art form specific — — 11,080 9,270 37,571 13,643 
			 Combined arts — — — — — — 
			 Dance 12,988 — — 24,000 19,100 21,425 
			 Drama 4,110 — — — — — 
			 Film(1) — — — — — — 
			 Literature 2,610 14,881 — — — — 
			 Music 5,000 — — — 22,293 — 
			 Visual arts 5,812 — — 14,150 — — 
			 Total 30,520 14,881 11,080 47,420 78,964 35,068 
		
	
	
		
			  Artform  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  Total 
			 Not art form specific — — — — — — 71,564 
			 Combined arts — — — — — — — 
			 Dance — — — — — — 77,513 
			 Drama 3,608 8,440 — — — — 20,803 
			 Film(1) — — — — — — — 
			 Literature — — — — — — 17,491 
			 Music — — — — 2,736 — 86,029 
			 Visual arts — — 30,000 — — — 81,962 
			 Total 3,608 8,440 30,000 — 2,736 — 355,362 
		
	
	
		
			  £ 
			   East of England 
			  Artform  1997-98  1998-99  1999-00  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03 
			 Not artform specific 257,544 621,096 325,664 651,027 893,185 251,530 
			 Combined arts 2,041,492 337,322 204,541 378,896 10,500,439 1,131,032 
			 Dance 453,456 262,170 349,742 454,430 532,241 180,225 
			 Drama 723,253 57,972 1,007,486 1,928,754 5,718,812 426,343 
			 Film(1) — — — — — — 
			 Literature 184,325 44,131 15,128 80,755 85,605 62,303 
			 Music 2,592,408 527,873 110,398 861,686 1,306,182 1,032,961 
			 Visual arts 1,255,552 883,710 277,909 723,981 7,333,081 1,320,851 
			 Total 7,508,030 2,734,274 2,290,868 5,079,529 26,369,545 4,405,245 
		
	
	
		
			  Artform  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  Total 
			 Not artform specific 542,287 804,261 482,947 917,790 — 265,000 9,692,340 
			 Combined arts 1,773,891 330,942 555,484 1,628,380 1,176,606 871,991 22,770,595 
			 Dance 3,838,119 248,675 616,803 829,575 439,012 552,432 9,060,367 
			 Drama 808,985 1,597,754 817,111 1,343,459 1,248,644 949,637 26,678,399 
			 Film(1) 33,433 31,159 956,949 85,598 — — 1,107,139 
			 Literature 192,593 157,702 141,753 742,233 262,299 442,558 2,436,077 
			 Music 5,776,926 1,420,640 1,483,627 1,025,007 791,925 1,030,014 24,982,540 
			 Visual arts 3,705,050 1,674,378 1,169,885 1,082,195 609,187 884,593 22,688,101 
			 Total 16,671,284 6,265,511 6,224,559 7,654,237 4,527,673 4,996,225 119,415,558 
			 (1) Awards classified as Film relate to monies distributed on behalf of Arts Council England by UK Film Council. 
		
	
	Figures are for all lottery-funded programmes that ran since 1997, including those organised by the Eastern Regional Arts Board, the Grants for the Arts—Organisations Programme, which began in 2003-04 and the Grants for the Arts—Individuals Programme, which became lottery-funded after 2007-08.

Cultural Heritage

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance his Department has issued to  (a) local government and  (b) regional public bodies on developing the role of cultural and historical resources in local economies.

Barbara Follett: The Department has not issued guidance on developing the role of cultural and historical resources in local economies either to local authorities or regional bodies. These bodies are themselves better placed to understand and guide local decision-making.
	The Department has however published a number of related statements. 'Lifting people, Lifting Places', published in May 2009, outlines how government can offer further support in the current economic climate, by developing employment opportunities in culture and the creative industries, measures to transform town centres and other approaches to building the new economy with culture and creativity at its heart.
	'Looking After Our Town Centres', jointly published with DCLG in April 2009, identifies the best steps communities can take to keep town centres thriving.
	DCMS is chairing a national group to address culture and sport within the Sub National Review and related Integrated Regional Strategies. The Department's four main NDPBs have been working together to deliver objectives under the Regional Strategies area of work. For example, NDPB offices in the North West region have prepared a joint response to the Integrated Regional Strategy.
	DCMS's local government improvement programme published 'A Passion for Excellence: One Year On' in March 2009 as part of an ongoing project, to support local government as "leaders of place", working with their local partners to deliver better outcomes, improve the quality of life locally and improve the delivery of cultural and sport services to local people. It can be found at:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/publications/5948.aspx

Departmental Manpower

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of his Department's staff at each grade have worked primarily on matters related to tourism in each of the last 12 years.

Barbara Follett: There are currently 10 officials in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport supporting Ministers to develop and implement tourism policy. Other officers in the Department are also working on public engagement in respect of tourism matters. However, it is not possible to give figures as the number of staff working primarily on tourism matters in previous year because no records are available.
	Following the recommendations of the DCMS Capability Review, standard functions like finance and briefing were brigaded into central teams and a flexible project resource was created to respond to new demands arising in any of our sectors, including tourism. This leaves smaller but more focussed specialist teams working on individual sectors, supported by the new central teams.

Museums: Strategy

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to publish his Department's museums strategy.

Barbara Follett: The Department's strategic agency for museums, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, will publish shortly a strategic action plan for England's museums. This has been developed in consultation with museums and their representative bodies.

National Lottery: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of Lottery funding has been allocated to organisations in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point in each of the last five years; and which organisations received such funding.

Si�n Simon: I have arranged for a list to be placed in the libraries of both Houses, of organisations in Essex and Castle Point that received lottery awards in each of the last five years.
	The following tables show the value of lottery grants awarded to organisations in Essex and Castle Point in the same years, along with the total amount of lottery grants awarded during those years.
	
		
			
			  2004-05  
			 Total lottery money awarded 1,631,700,181.00 
			 Total lottery money to Essex 24,472,090.00 
			 Total lottery money to Castle Point 543,532.00 
			   
			  2005-06  
			 Total lottery money awarded 1,403,319,105.00 
			 Total lottery money to Essex 22,789,381.00 
			 Total lottery money to Castle Point 424,880.00 
			   
			  2006-07  
			 Total lottery money awarded 1,089,924,311.00 
			 Total lottery money to Essex 16,708,350.00 
			 Total lottery money to Castle Point 112,536.00 
			   
			  2007-08  
			 Total lottery money awarded 1,651,881,453.00 
			 Total lottery money to Essex 28,828,918.00 
			 Total lottery money to Castle Point 250,233.00 
			   
			  2008-09  
			 Total lottery money awarded 958,554,325.00 
			 Total lottery money to Essex 11,666,889.00 
			 Total lottery money to Castle Point 47,107.00 
		
	
	These statistics come from the Department's Lottery Grants Database. The Database is searchable at www.lottery.culture.gov.uk and uses information on Lottery grants supplied by the Lottery distributors.

National Lottery: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of all Lottery funding available has been awarded to organisations in  (a) Tameside and  (b) Stockport in the last 12 months.

Si�n Simon: Out of 805,595,710 Lottery funding awarded between 11 June 2008 and 11 June 2009, 1,357,072 was awarded to organisations in the Tameside Local Authority area, and 670,680 to organisations in the Stockport local authority area.
	The information is derived from the Department's Lottery Grant database which is searchable at www.lottery.culture.gov.uk and uses information supplied by the Lottery distributors.

Richmond Park: Parking

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when his Department expects to receive recommendations from the Royal Parks Agency following the Agency's recent consultation on the proposal to introduce car park charging in Richmond Park; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: The Royal Parks has had a very large response to its consultation on changes to the Park Regulations. The results are currently being analysed with the expectation that the Agency will make its recommendations to Ministers by the end of July. I will carefully consider the recommendations and I have already agreed to meet the hon. Member prior to making any decision.

Television: Concessions

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many pensioners in  (a) Chorley and (b) Lancashire had a free television licence at the latest date for which figures are available.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 24 June 2009
	 TV Licensing, which administers free television licences for people aged 75 or over as agents for the BBC, can provide breakdown only by postcode. However, according to the records from the Department for Work and Pensions, the number of households with at least one person aged 75 or over claiming the winter fuel payment in 2007-08 was in  (a) Chorley, 5,450 and in  (b) Lancashire 71,710. Figures for 2008-09 are still being compiled.

Tourism

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make an assessment of the impact of changes in the budget of Visit Britain since 2007 on the  (a) tourist industry and  (b) economy.

Barbara Follett: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport requires its sponsored bodies to achieve value for money and VisitBritain's Tourism Framework Review sets a new agenda for the industry to work effectively with other structures.
	In partnership with the industry and the wider public sector, the DCMS has a clear and coherent policy framework for industry growth. This includes branding and marketing improvement led by VisitBritain; the National Tourism Skills Strategy; work across Britain to drive up product quality through accommodation grading schemes and the better co-ordination of the over 350 million a year of public money invested in tourism at national, regional and local levels.

Tourism: Olympic Games 2012

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department plans to spend on encouraging international travellers to visit the UK during the London 2012 Olympics.

Barbara Follett: Between 2008-09 and 2010-11, VisitBritain has been allocated funding of around 130 million towards marketing and promotion.
	VisitBritain is in the process of reviewing its Olympics Delivery Plan and intends to submit this to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport shortly.

CABINET OFFICE

Cancer

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many cases of cancer have been diagnosed in  (a) Peterborough constituency and  (b) England in each year since 2000.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell dated June 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many cases of cancer have been diagnosed in  (a) Peterborough constituency and  (b) England in each year since 2000 (281669).
	The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2006. Numbers of newly diagnosed cases of cancer for the years 2000 to 2006 for  (a) Peterborough constituency and  (b) England are in Table 1 below.
	
		
			  Table 1: Registration of newly diagnosed cases of cancer( 1) , Peterborough parliamentary constituency( 2) , and England, 2000 to 2006 
			   Peterborough  England 
			 2000 394 229,339 
			 2001 398 232,575 
			 2002 380 230,208 
			 2003 424 234,434 
			 2004 394 239,273 
			 2005 367 241,974 
			 2006 382 242,184 
			 (1) All cancers, coded to C00-C97 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), excluding non-melanoma skin cancer (C44). (2) Based on boundaries as of 2007.  Source: Office for national Statistics

Departmental Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which  (a) sections of her Department and  (b) non-departmental public bodies for which her Department is responsible have requested money saved from efficiency savings to be used for increased pay in their 2009 pay offers to staff.

Angela Smith: The Cabinet Office and the non-departmental public bodies for which it is responsible have not requested money saved from efficiency savings to be used for increased pay in their 2009 pay offers to staff.

Departmental Responsibilities

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the responsibilities of her Department's Director of Digital Engagement are.

Tessa Jowell: The director for digital engagement works across Government Departments to promote the use of digital technology to communicate with the public. He is responsible for implementing the recommendations of the Power of Information Taskforce and for the programme to create better access to government held public data.
	He also chairs the Government's Knowledge Council and is responsible for increasing the civil service's use of internal digital tools to improve cross Government policy development and service delivery.

Floods

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of provision to category 1 responders of assessments of critical infrastructure in their areas to enable them to assess vulnerability to flooding.

Tessa Jowell: Arrangements were put in place in March 2008 to share information on critical national infrastructure with all local resilience forums (LRFs) in England. This information has been shared with LRFs to enable local risk assessment and generic planning, under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004); we will assess the results next year.
	In the immediate future the natural hazards team is undertaking an assessment of the vulnerability of the critical national infrastructure to flooding and will be working with the relevant lead Government Departments, economic regulators and operators to reduce those vulnerabilities.

Marketing: Apprentices

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how much the Central Office of Information spent on  (a) producing advertising and  (b) buying advertising space as part of the Make Things Happen apprenticeships advertising campaign.

Tessa Jowell: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Central Office of Information. I have asked the Chief Executive to reply.
	 Letter from  Mark Lund, dated June 2009:
	As Chief Executive of the Central Office of Information (COI), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on the Make things Happen apprenticeships campaign (266498).
	COI supplied details of costs incurred in the campaign as part of the response given to the hon. Member by the Learning Skills Council's acting chief executive (30 March 2009,  Official Report, column 871W). Copies of the letter sent to the hon. Member by the acting chief executive are available in the libraries of the House.

Regional Support Unit

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the  (a) budget and  (b) staffing level of her Department's Regional Support Unit will be in 2009-10.

Tessa Jowell: At present 150,000 has been identified to cover the Cabinet Office costs for the regional support unit to co-ordinate regional communications. This includes the costs of a team of three staff.

Strategic Horizons Unit: Manpower

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many full-time equivalent staff work in the Cabinet Office's  (a) Strategic Horizons Unit and  (b) horizon-scanning divisions.

Tessa Jowell: The Strategic Horizons Unit was established in accordance with the Prime Minister's written ministerial statement of 22 July 2008 on the National Security Strategy:
	Alongside (the National Security Secretariat) a horizon scanning unit will be established which will co-ordinate the security-related horizon scanning currently undertaken in a number of Government Departments, with the intention of giving it an overarching framework and a more coherent output.
	The unit began operations on 23 September 2008.
	Four full-time equivalent staff work in the Cabinet Office's strategic horizons unit, and the unit is in the process of hiring one further member of staff. The functions of the vacant post are currently being performed by a member of the Intelligence Corps (Volunteers). There is no other Cabinet Office division for which horizon scanning is its main mission.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Dairy Farming

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the organisation Dairy Farmers of Great Britain.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 23 June 2009
	 On 17 June I attended a meeting of senior officials, Dairy Farmers of Britain Members Council, the receivers (PWC), Dairy UK, Farm unions, banks, and charity and benevolent organisations to continue co-ordinated efforts and work towards our common goal of minimising the impacts on all those affected.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Hilary Benn) has spoken to regional development agencies to ask for their support, and has written to the British Bankers Association and the Agricultural Industries Confederation urging them to give any help they can to farmers affected by the Dairy Farmers of Britain collapse.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to make his Department carbon-neutral; and what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on making their Departments carbon-neutral;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to make his Department's agencies carbon-neutral; what his latest estimate is of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from those agencies; and what steps he plans to take to reduce them;
	(3)  what his latest estimate is of the level of greenhouse gas emissions from  (a) his Department and  (b) other Government departments; and what steps he is taking to seek to achieve reductions in emissions in each case.

Dan Norris: DEFRA and its Executive agencies are committed to reducing their carbon emissions.
	Various energy efficiency projects have already been implemented across both the DEFRA and Executive Agency Estate including:
	Installation of voltage regulation units. This technology significantly reduces energy consumption of a whole building by regulating the voltage level entering the building. Average electricity consumption has reduced by 11 per cent. as a result of installing this technology.
	Other energy efficiency projects which have been implemented include upgrades to more efficient lighting, improvements to motor energy controls and gas boiler sequencing controls, all of which have delivered significant savings.
	Thermal imaging surveys have been undertaken at a number of DEFRA laboratory sites. The results of the surveys will inform a programme of works to improve the thermal efficiency of buildings.
	DEFRA is currently upgrading its electricity, gas and water meters to 'Smart meters' which will provide accurate and up to the minute consumption data. This data will be used to monitor and identify excessive consumption, providing a focus for strategic consumption reduction. The carbon Trust estimate that savings of between 5-10 per cent. can be achieved through the identification of waste through Smart metering.
	These measures have resulted in the DEFRA and Executive Agency Estate achieving accreditation under the Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme (EEAS) in 2007. DEFRA also achieved the Carbon Trust Standard in 2008 for its office estate. Both these awards were independently assessed and confirm that the Department is improving its energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.
	DEFRA is already exceeding the Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) target for reducing carbon emissions from offices. Its ongoing programme of investment on efficiency measures will ensure that the Department is in the best possible position when Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) begins in 2012. In addition, a 15 year Sustainable Built Environment Workplace Support (SBEWS) delivery partnership with Interserve plc, will deliver significant efficiency improvements, not just in energy but across the entire range of SOGE targets.
	The Department for Energy and Climate Change is currently leading work to define what is meant by carbon neutrality for Government and the private sector. Once this work is complete, Government will review the target for the central Government office estate to be carbon neutral by 2012 and the implications for departmental delivery.
	The table represents the carbon emissions from DEFRA and its Executive agencies in 2007-08.
	
		
			  Organisation  Kg carbon (kgC) 
			 DEFRA 2,211,042 
			 Animal Health 477,217 
			 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 1,025,533 
			 Food and Environment Research Agency (formerly Central Science Laboratory) 4,112,740 
			 Marine and Fisheries Agency 35,085 
			 Rural Payments Agency 1,461,561 
			 Veterinary Laboratories Agency 4,048,234 
			 Total 13,371,413 
			  Note: The figures are not weather corrected.

Departmental Communication

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what expenditure under the budget heading of communication his Department  (a) incurred in 2007-08 and  (b) is likely to incur in 2010-11; and for what purposes.

Dan Norris: For the financial year 2007-08 expenditure DEFRA incurred was as follows:
	
		
			   
			 Admin pay 6,420,946 
			 Non pay 3,062,882 
			 Programme 7,830,244 
		
	
	For the financial year 2010-11 the budget is likely to be:
	
		
			   
			 Admin pay 5,799,750 
			 Admin non pay 2,358,000 
			 Programme budget 6,594,000 
		
	
	The programme budget for 2010-11 covers communications activity to support key policy areas such as biodiversity, resource efficiency, biosecurity, personal food imports, climate friendly farming and adaptation.

Departmental Data Protection

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many breaches of information security there have been at  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies in the last five years.

Dan Norris: Data on all types of information security breaches is not available centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
	Following the Data Handling Review published on 25 June 2008, my Department and its agencies report all significant security breaches involving personal data to the Cabinet Office and the ICO and information on personal data security breaches is published on an annual basis in the department's annual resource accounts.
	Additionally, all significant control weaknesses including other significant security breaches are included in the Statement of Internal Control which is published within the annual resource accounts.

Farming: Finance

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2009,  Official Report, column 1056W, on dairy farming: finance, 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost of obtaining the information requested;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2009,  Official Report, column 1057W, on livestock: finance, what estimate he has made of the cost of obtaining the information requested.

Jim Fitzpatrick: For historical reasons relating to the formation of the Rural Payments Agency, the data required to provide the information requested pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2009,  Official Report, column 1056W on dairy farming and column 1057W on livestock is held on three finance systems. The process to reconcile the information to provide accurate financial information in the form requested is resource intensive, time consuming and would cost more than 750 to collate.

World Environment Day 2009

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what World Environment Day 2009 events his Department supported; at which events his Department was represented; and what steps his Department took to promote World Environment Day 2009.

Dan Norris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was represented by Peter Unwin, Director General of DEFRA's Environment and Rural Group, at the opening of the new Three Mills Lock on World Environment Day. Three Mills Lock is a key piece of Olympic Park infrastructure and the largest mechanism of its kind built on London waterways for more than 20 years. It will help take lorries off local roads, reduce thousands of tonnes of CO2 and ease local congestion. It will also provide a green freight route for the redevelopment of East London, and open up the waterways for boaters, walkers and cyclists. Secretary of State supplied some quotes for a British Waterways media release.
	Lord Hunt attended the Basic 21 Sustainable School Awards, which took place at Austin Court, Birmingham and was part of a number of events to launch Green Day on World Environment Day. Green Day is a one-day event for schools about climate change, sustainability and the built environment, inviting 350 primary and secondary schools and nearly 100,000 pupils to become more sustainable in the run up to the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen later this year.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Academies

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what research his Department has commissioned on the effect of academies on the academic performance of their pupils.

Vernon Coaker: In 2002, we commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out a five year evaluation of the Academies programme, the core aim of which was to assess the effect of Academies on academic performance. Their fifth and final report was published in November 2008 and we are currently exploring the options for future evaluation of the programme.
	The National Audit Office and the National Foundation for Education Research and the Local Government Association have also conducted studies of Academies. In addition, as with all schools, Academies are inspected by Ofsted and their reports are published as are the GCSE results for individual Academies.
	The information we have tells us that in general, standards in Academies are rising at a faster rate than national average.

Departmental Energy

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent on energy efficiency measures for his Department's and its predecessor's estate in each year from 2004 to 2009; what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of that expenditure; and what plans he has for future energy efficiency measures.

Diana Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families spent 419,000 on energy efficiency measures on its estate in 2008-09.
	While it is not possible to separate energy efficiency works from overall expenditure on refurbishment and renewal works in preceding years, the Department's overall energy efficiency improved by 3 per cent. between 2006-07 and 2007-08.
	The Department is presently developing its investment programme for the current financial year and the effectiveness of any expenditure will be reported in the annual Sustainable Development in Government report.

Departmental Waste

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the amount of waste arising from his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Diana Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families makes an annual report to the Sustainable Development Commission on waste arising as part of their returns for the Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report.
	From the 2007 and 2008 SDiG Reports (available in full at
	http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/
	under 'Publications') waste arising for the office estate was reported as  (a) 1,918 tonnes in 2006-07 and  (b) 2,678 tonnes in 2007-08 which equated to (aii) 0.32 tonnes per full-time equivalent and (bii) 0.39 tonnes per full-time equivalent.

GCSE

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of students achieved a B grade at GCSE in each subject in each of the last three years.

Diana Johnson: The numbers of students achieving a Grade B at GCSE along with the total number of entries in each subject is contained in table 13 in each of the following links:
	 2005/06:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000702/index.shtml
	 2006/07:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000768/index.shtml
	 2007/08:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000826/index.shtml

Head teachers: Disciplinary Proceedings

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of head teachers have been subject to disciplinary procedure in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: The operation of disciplinary procedures in schools is a matter for local determination. Accordingly, the information requested about the proportion of head teachers who have been subject to disciplinary procedures over the last five years is not held centrally.

Pupil Exclusions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils who were permanently excluded from a mainstream maintained  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school were next placed in a (i) mainstream school and (ii) pupil referral unit in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The requested information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Pupil Referral Units

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which pupil referral units in each local authority area are attended by more than  (a) 50 and  (b) 100 pupils.

Vernon Coaker: The information request is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Pupil referral units: headcount of pupils( 1) As at January 2008 
			  England 
			  LA  number  LA name  School name  Headcount of pupils 
			 330 Birmingham The Behaviour Support Service 100 
			 341 Liverpool Mill Road Pupil Referral Unit, Ipors Centre 100 
			 925 Lincolnshire Solutions 4 100 
			 209 Lewisham Abbey Manor College 100 
			 316 Newham Key Stage 4 PRU 100 
			 881 Essex Heybridge Pupil Referral Unit 100 
			 831 Derby Derby City Pupil Referral Unit 100 
			 380 Bradford Secondary Pupil Referral Unit 100 
			 391 Newcastle Linhope PRU 100 
			 890 Blackpool Educational Diversity 100 
			 211 Tower Hamlets Out of School Provision PRU 100 
			 881 Essex Integrated Support Centre, Harlow 100 
			 891 Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire Learning Centre 100 
			 307 Ealing The Study Centre 100 
			 865 Wiltshire Trinity Education Centre 100 
			 301 Barking and Dagenham Barking and Dagenham Tuition Service 100 
			 830 Derbyshire KS4 Support Centre 100 
			 928 Northamptonshire Complementary Education 100 
			 305 Bromley Bromley Bridge for Learning 100 
			 937 Warwickshire Warwickshire Pupil Re-integration Unit 100 
			 204 Hackney The New Vision PRU at The Learning Trust 100 
			 926 Norfolk Central Area Pupil Referral Unit 100 
			 926 Norfolk Western Area Pupil Referral Unit 100 
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham The Bridge Academy 100 
			 353 Oldham Oldham Pupil Referral Unit 100 
			 860 Staffordshire CedarsNewcastle, Orme and Wall Lane Bases 100 
			 931 Oxfordshire Oxfordshire Pupil Referral Unit and Integration Service 100 
			 825 Buckinghamshire The Wycombe Grange Pupil Referral Unit 100 
			 889 Blackburn with Darwen St. Thomas's Centre 100 
			 916 Gloucestershire Gloucester and Forest Pupil Referral Services 100 
			 334 Solihull Hobs Moat Centre 100 
			 801 City of Bristol Bristol Hospital Education Service 100 
			 870 Reading Reading Pupil Referral Service 100 
			 856 Leicester Secondary Federated Pupil Referral Service (Short Stay School) 100 
			 874 City of Peterborough The Pupil Referral Service 100 
			 352 Manchester KS4PRU 100 
			 850 Hampshire Basingstoke School Plus 100 
			 841 Darlington Alternative Centre for Education 100 
			 313 Hounslow Wood Lane Centre 50 
			 212 Wandsworth Francis Barber Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 883 Thurrock Culver Education Centre (Pupil Support) 50 
			 840 Durham Broom Cottages 50 
			 370 Barnsley Springwell Centre 50 
			 383 Leeds Tinshill Learning Centre 50 
			 879 City of Plymouth Martin's Gate Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 340 Knowsley Newstead Centre 50 
			 886 Kent Ashford and Shepway Alternative Curriculum PRU 50 
			 354 Rochdale Rochdale Pupil Referral Service 50 
			 886 Kent Canterbury and Swale Alternative Curriculum PRU 50 
			 390 Gateshead Behaviour Support 50 
			 820 Bedfordshire Greys Education Centre 50 
			 203 Greenwich Newhaven Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 892 City of Nottingham Alternative Provision PRU 50 
			 816 York Pupil Support Centre 50 
			 886 Kent Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks Alternative Curriculum PRU 50 
			 331 Coventry Centre 4 50 
			 855 Leicestershire Student Support Service PRU 50 
			 866 Swindon Stratton Education Centre 50 
			 308 Enfield Enfield Secondary Tuition Centre 50 
			 886 Kent Dartford and Gravesham 50 
			 319 Sutton The Loxley Centre 50 
			 343 Sefton IMPACT KS4 PRU 50 
			 887 Medway Silverbank Centre 50 
			 306 Croydon Phil Edwards Centre 50 
			 888 Lancashire Larches House School 50 
			 311 Havering Havering KS4 PRU 50 
			 807 Redcar and Cleveland Eston Centre (EOTAS) 50 
			 208 Lambeth Park Centre 50 
			 926 Norfolk Eastern Area Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 309 Haringey Haringey Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 316 Newham Behaviour Support and Tuition Service 50 
			 356 Stockport The Secondary Behaviour Support Service 50 
			 886 Kent Thanet and Dover Alternative Curriculum PRU 50 
			 888 Lancashire Burnley and Pendle Centre 50 
			 206 Islington Project 16 50 
			 302 Barnet Pavilion Study Centre 50 
			 304 Brent Brent Education Tuition Service 50 
			 306 Croydon The Coningsby Centre 50 
			 916 Gloucestershire Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Pupil Referral Services 50 
			 357 Tameside Hyde Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 882 Southend-on-Sea Southend Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 860 Staffordshire Kettlebrook Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 894 Telford and Wrekin King Street 50 
			 344 Wirral WASP 50 
			 938 West Sussex Area CCrawley/Burgess Hill 50 
			 938 West Sussex Area BPRU Worthing 50 
			 210 Southwark Southwark Inclusive Learning Service KS3 Centre 50 
			 303 Bexley The Howbury Centre Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 935 Suffolk Westbridge Pupil Referral Unit 50 
			 371 Doncaster Hexthorpe Centre 50 
			 350 Bolton Starting Point 50 
			 371 Doncaster Beckett Road Centre 50 
			 850 Hampshire Quayside Education Centre 50 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea Kensington and Chelsea Pupil Referral Unit at The Latimer Building 50 
			 333 Sandwell The Bridge Centre (KS4 Unit) 50 
			 871 Slough The Northbrook PRU 50 
			 306 Croydon Cotelands PRU co John Ruskin College 50 
			 336 Wolverhampton Midpoint Centre 50 
			 371 Doncaster Hospital and Interim Tuition Service 50 
			 393 South Tyneside Alternative Education Service co Perth Green Community Centre 50 
			 888 Lancashire The Oswaldtwistle School 50 
			 850 Hampshire The Linden Education Centre 50 
			 933 Somerset Alternative Provision Service 50 
			 (1) Includes pupils on the unit's register only and pupils who are on the unit's register and attend all or part of their time at a FE college or with a voluntary provider.  Note: Excludes all dually registered pupils.

Pupils: Health

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the experience in schools of children with long-term medical conditions.

Diana Johnson: The Department has not commissioned any research into this subject. However, the Department is currently in the process of revising our guidance Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings. The new guidance will include clear statements of expectations of those involved in supporting pupils with medical conditions, such as schools and primary care trusts. Importantly, this work will be done in collaboration with the Department of Health and other expert organisations, such as Diabetes UK, and will also involve: lobby groups; school and head-teacher representatives; as well as parents and children representatives. The new guidance will be subject to public consultation before being published early next year.

Schools: Buildings

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the  (a) requirement for and  (b) cost of school building repairs in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point in the next three years.

Vernon Coaker: The Department relies on local authorities to assess the requirement for and cost of school building repairs as part of their asset management plans. It does not maintain central records, and allocates devolved capital resources to local authorities and schools on a formula basis, taking into account pupil numbers.
	Capital funding, allocated by the Department and available locally, must be used to finance work which results in the enhancement of assets including new building. Revenue funding is used for work which maintains existing assets to their original state, although it can also be used for capital improvement work.

Schools: Religion

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent guidance his Department has issued to schools on accommodating minority  (a) religious and  (b) cultural beliefs.

Diana Johnson: The Government are committed to ensuring that pupils receive a balanced and inclusive curriculum and that schools take account of pupils' religious and cultural beliefs in all aspects of school life. The National Curriculum includes a detailed statutory inclusion statement, which sets out ways in which teachers should help all pupils to take part in the National Curriculum and to achieve the highest possible standards. Religious Education, which is a statutory part of the basic school curriculum, should be taught like any other subject in the curriculum, in an objective and inclusive way.
	Schools are subject to equalities legislation and the Department advises that they should be sensitive to pupils' religious and cultural needs in developing their policies. For example, School Governors must ensure that their uniform and appearance policies are fair and reasonable in accommodating cultural diversity. The Department's procurement guidance encourages schools to take account of the needs of the local community, so that when writing a specification for a contract for school food, for example, the needs of minority ethnic, cultural and religious diets should be considered.
	The School Admissions Code and related legislation, revised in February 2009, sets out a robust framework, clearly showing the statutory requirements that schools and local authorities must comply with to ensure fair access for all.
	In order to prepare pupils for active participation in a diverse society the Education and Inspections Act 2006 placed a duty to promote community cohesion on the governing body of maintained schools in England from 1 September 2007, with guidance on the duty issued in July 2008.

Standard Assessment Tests

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what representations he has received on changes to announced dates for Key Stage 2 standard assessment tests; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  on what dates in  (a) 2010,  (b) 2011 and  (c) 2012 it is proposed to hold the Key Stage 2 standard assessment tests.

Vernon Coaker: The Government have accepted the recommendation of the Expert Group on Assessment that the National Curriculum Key Stage 2 tests should be administered in the middle of June, rather than in May. This change will be introduced as soon as is practicable.
	The dates of the 2010 tests will be confirmed to schools before the end of the summer term 2009. Arrangements for future years will be announced in due course.

JUSTICE

Departmental Official Hospitality

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department and its predecessor has spent on  (a) conference services and  (b) banqueting services in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: Expenditure on conference services by the Ministry of Justice, comprising headquarters and Executive agencies (the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Her Majesty's Courts Service, the Tribunals Service and the Office of the Public Guardian), since its inception is as follows:
	
		
			  Financial period   
			 2008-09 5,875,035 
			 2007-08 4,256,611 
		
	
	The amounts above exclude expenditure by the 42 local probation boards and trusts within NOMS as this information is held locally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
	The Ministry's predecessor Department, the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), incurred the following expenditure on conference services:
	
		
			
			 2006-07 3,119,893 
			 2005-06 3,255,327 
			 2004-05 2,161,378 
		
	
	The DCA was a smaller department which did not include the National Offender Management Service or the Office for Criminal Justice Reform which were part of the Home Office prior to 2007-08.
	The growth in expenditure on conferences reflects the increasingly cross-cutting nature of government policy. Conferences represent an effective mechanism for bringing together stakeholders in the government, private and voluntary sectors to promote a joined up approach to the delivery of front line services.
	Bookings for conferences and related expenditure must be made through designated contractors employed by the Ministry of Justice to identify venues and accommodation that offers best value for money.
	The Ministry of Justice and the Department for Constitutional Affairs have no record of any expenditure on banqueting services in the last five years.

Probation

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many high-risk  (a) male and  (b) female offenders in each age group there were in the Hampshire probation area in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The following table sets out the number of male and female offenders assessed by the Hampshire probation area as presenting a high or very high risk of serious harm. The assessment of risk of serious harm is made through the Offender Assessment System (OASys). Figures are presented for the past four years (2005-2008) as the electronic OASys system was still being implemented in 2004. The number of Hampshire assessments used to produce the figures increased from 4,822 in 2005 to 8,189 in 2008, reflecting an increase in the proportion of offenders entered onto the system as new cases join existing cases. The data are drawn from administrative IT systems and are subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale assessment and recording system.
	
		
			  Age  Gender  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 18-20 Male 46 42 62 68 
			  Female 5 3 1 1 
			 21-24 Male 40 62 79 112 
			  Female 6 3 8 6 
			 25-40 Male 125 128 205 321 
			  Female 5 7 9 11 
			 41+ Male 65 94 150 233 
			  Female 3 2 6 8

Probation: West Midlands

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the net change in numbers of trained probation officers in West Mercia was between 2002 and 2007.

Maria Eagle: Prior to 2003, information was not collected that enabled the extraction of data for a specific probation area or job group. The following table shows the number of trained probation officers in West Mercia in 2003 and 2007 and the net change in numbers over that time:
	
		
			   Probation officers( 2) 
			 2003(1) 125.50 
			 2007(1) 153 
			 Net change 27.49 
			 (1) Figures taken as at 30 June 2009. (2) Includes senior probation officers, senior practitioners, probation officers and professional development assessors.  Note: Figures shown as full time equivalents.

PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Responsibilities

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Prime Minister if he will assess the merits of transferring responsibility for tourism to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

Gordon Brown: I have no current plans to do so.

Electoral Systems

David Drew: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to establish a Royal Commission to report and make recommendations on electoral reform; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made to the House on 10 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 795-99. The Government will set out proposals on taking the debate forward.

European Commission

John Hayes: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what criteria he plans to use to decide on his next nominee for the post of European Commissioner;
	(2)  what criteria he plans to use in deciding on the UK's preferred candidate to be the next President of the European Commission.

Gordon Brown: The treaty establishing the European Community requires that Commissioners shall be chosen on the grounds of general competence. The Prime Minister nominates a candidate to become the UK Commissioner who has the right skills to be able to do an excellent job as a Commissioner. I have made clear that the UK supports Jose Manuel Durao Barroso in his candidature to become European Commission President for a second term. Mr. Barroso has been an excellent Commission President since 2004.

Iraq Conflict

Lynne Jones: To ask the Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the  (a) costs and  (b) benefits to the United Kingdom of its participation in the Iraq war and occupation.

Gordon Brown: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement I made to the House on 15 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 21-24.

Iraq Conflict: Inquiries

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister whether the committee of inquiry into the Iraq war will be required to publish the oral and written evidence taken during its inquiry with the report of its findings.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made to the House on 15 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 21-24.

Iraq Conflict: Inquiries

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister what remuneration each member of the committee of inquiry into the Iraq war will receive; from which budget such remuneration will be drawn; and what secretariat will be provided for the committee.

Gordon Brown: The inquiry will be supported by the Cabinet Office.

Iraq Conflict: Inquiries

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister whether witnesses called to give evidence to the committee of inquiry on the Iraq war will be required to give evidence on oath.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to my letter of 17 June 2009 to the right hon. Sir John Chilcot GCB and to his reply of 21 June 2009. Copies of both have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Iraq: Armed Conflict

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what representations he received on the format and remit of the inquiry into the Iraq war before taking his decision on the committee of inquiry; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what criteria were used in the appointment of members to the committee of inquiry into the Iraq war;
	(3)  from whom he  (a) sought and  (b) received advice on the format of the inquiry into the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Gordon Brown: The proposals were produced following advice from the Cabinet Secretary, who discussed the scope and membership of the inquiry with the main Opposition parties before my statement to the House on 15 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 21-24. The members of the committee were selected as independent, non-political individuals, highly regarded professionally and personally, with relevant expertise in a range of issues.

Iraq: Weapons

Lynne Jones: To ask the Prime Minister what reports his Office received concluding that Iraq was not in possession of weapons of mass destruction in the two years prior to the start of the Iraq war; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: These matters were examined during the course of the Butler Review.

HEALTH

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions on the grounds of rectifiable disabilities were performed after 24 weeks' gestation in 2008.

Gillian Merron: The number of abortions that are performed at 24 weeks' gestation and over by principal medical condition if performed under Section l(l)(d) of the Abortion Act 1967 can be found in Table 9 of Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2008, and a copy of this table is as follows.
	Abortions performed under this section are those where there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped. Medical conditions recorded under Section l(l)(d) are coded using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (10th edition) published by the World Health Organisation.
	
		
			  Legal abortions: principal medical condition for abortions performed under ground E, 2008 England and Wales, residents 
			  ICD-10 code( 1)  Condition  Total  Over 24 weeks gestation 
			 Total grounds E alone or with any other  1,988 124(2) 
			 Q00-Q89 Congenital malformations total 956 85 
			 Q00-Q07 the nervous system total 477 42 
			 Q00 anencephaly 172 (3) 
			 Q1 encephalocele 20 (3) 
			 Q3 hydrocephalus 33 (3) 
			 Q4 other malformations of the brain 75 21 
			 Q05 spina bifida 118 (3) 
			 Q02,Q06, Q07 other 59 11 
			 
			 Q10-Q89 other congenital malformations total 479 43 
			 Q20-Q28 the cardiovascular system 124 17 
			 Q30-Q34 the respiratory system 10 (3) 
			 Q60-Q64 the urinary system 101 14 
			 Q65-Q79 the musculoskeletal system 147 (3) 
			 Q10-Q18, Q35-Q56, Q80-Q89 other 97 (3) 
			 
			 Q90-Q99 Chromosomal abnormalities total 739 27 
			 
			 Q90 Down's syndrome 436 (3) 
			 Q910-Q913 Edwards' syndrome143 143 (3) 
			 Q914-Q917 Patau's syndrome 61 (3) 
			 Q92-Q99 other 99 (3) 
			 
			  Other conditions total 293 12 
			 P00-P04 fetus affected by maternal factors 99 (3) 
			 P05-P08 fetal disorders relating to gestation and growth 15 (3) 
			 P832-P833 hydrops fetalis not due to haemolytic disease 27 (3) 
			 Z80-Z84 family history of heritable disorder 140 (3) 
			  Other(4) 12 (3) 
			 (1 )ICD-10 codes are taken from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (Tenth Revision) published by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Figures for specific groups shown only where there are 10 or more cases in total (2) Over 24 week total includes abortions carried out under grounds A, B, F or G. (3) Fewer than 10 cases (0-9) or where a presented figure would reveal a suppressed value. (4) Includes cases where insufficient detail was available to allocate an ICD10 code.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 2 April 2009,  Official Report, column 1473W, on abortion, how many abortions were performed in pregnancies of 24 weeks or more in 2008.

Gillian Merron: There were 124 abortions performed at gestations of 24 weeks or over in 2008.

Blood Products

Geoffrey Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will direct the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs to expedite its consideration of the adoption of pathogen inactivation measures; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs is an independent advisory committee. Pathogen inactivation is one of the options the committee will consider for further reducing the infection risk from platelets (a blood component) at its next meeting in July 2009. There are no pathogen inactivation systems currently available for red cells.

Carers: Telephone Services

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls the Carers Direct helpline has received since it was established.

Phil Hope: The Carers Direct Helpline and website was officially launched on 10 June 2009. Between 1 April 2009 (go-live) and 21 June 2009, 2,052 calls have been received.

Dementia: Health Services

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent assessment is of standards of out-of-hospital  (a) palliative and  (b) dementia care for elderly patients in (i) England, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) Crosby; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: As part of the work to develop the end of life care strategy and the national dementia strategy, evidence was considered on all aspects of end of life care, including palliative care, services and dementia care services for adults in England as a whole, irrespective of age. The outcome of this work is reflected in the two strategies, which were published in July 2008 and February 2009 respectively. Copies of the strategies have already been placed in the Library and are available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_086277
	and
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_094058
	We have made no assessment of the standards of out-of-hospital end of life care or dementia care for elderly patients in Merseyside or Crosby. This is the responsibility of local primary care trusts and Sefton council.

Dental Services: Derbyshire

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of dental services in Derbyshire.

Phil Hope: The numbers of courses of treatments (CoTs) and units of dental activity (UDAs) performed by national health service dentists, in England, are available in Table C6 of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England: Quarter 3, 31 December 2008 report. Information is available for 2006-07 and quarterly since 2007-08.
	Information on the number of patients seen in the most recent 24-month period is available in Table D3 of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England, Quarter 3, 31 December 2008 report. Information is provided at quarterly intervals from 31 March 2006 to 31 December 2008.
	This report, published on 21 May 2009, has been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalstats0809q3
	Information for the first three quarters of 2008-09 remain provisional as they are revised in each subsequent report to account for treatments reported too late for inclusion in the previous quarterly report. In the end of year report, published in the August following the end of the financial year, all quarterly activity data are revised for a final time.
	Further information on CoTs and UDAs is contained in the above report.
	The numbers of dentists with NHS activity during the years ending 31 March, 2007 and 2008 are available in Table Gl of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007-08 report. This report, published on 21 August 2008, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the Information Centre for health and social care website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dental0708
	Following a recent consultation exercise, this measure is based on a revised methodology and therefore supersedes previously published workforce figures relating to the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. It is not comparable to the information collected under the old contractual arrangements. This revised methodology counted the number of dental performers with NHS activity recorded via FP17 claim forms in each year ending 31 March.
	Workforce figures relate to headcounts and do not differentiate between full-time and part-time dentists, nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.
	Information in both reports is provided by primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) but is not available by constituency. They are based on the PCT boundaries which came into effect on 1 October 2006.
	All 10 SHAs have set themselves the aim of providing access to NHS dentistry for all who seek it by March 2011 at the latest.
	We are supporting PCTs to meet this aim with extra resourcesan 11 per cent. uplift in our dental funding allocations for 2008-09, and a further 8.5 per cent. uplift in total funds for 2009-10, which takes the total available for dental allocations to 2,257 million (net of patient charge income).
	We have also set up an expanded national dental access programme, headed by Dr. Mike Warburton, an experienced clinician and manager, to support managers and clinicians to rapidly expand services where needed.
	The report of the Independent Review of Dentistry in England NHS Dental Services in England, published on 22 June 2009, recommends a series of further actions to support access and quality. A copy has already been placed in the Library. Piloting of the recommendations will begin from this autumn.

Dental Services: Derbyshire

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) adults and  (b) children without access to an NHS dentist in (i) England and (ii) Rochford and Southend East constituency in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally. It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to assess local need and demand for national health services dental services and commission the appropriate services.
	However, information is available on the number of patients registered with an NHS dentist, in England, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 in annex A of the NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006. Information is provided adults and children, and PCT and by strategic health authority (SHA) level where appropriate.
	This information is based on the old contractual arrangements which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. This report has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS information centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dwfactivity
	Under the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with an NHS dentist to receive NHS care. The closest equivalent measure to 'registration' is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services ('patients seen') over a 24-month period.
	Information on the number of patients seen in the previous 24 months in England is available in table Dl annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics, Quarter 3: 31 December 2008 report. Information is provided by adults and children and is available at quarterly intervals, from 31 March 2006 to 31 December 2008. This data are also provided at PCT and SHA level.
	This report has already been placed in the Library. It is also available on the NHS information centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalstats0809q3
	All 10 SHAs have set themselves the aim of providing access to NHS dentistry for all who seek it by March 2011 at the latest. We are supporting PCTs to meet this aim with extra resourcesan 11 per cent. uplift in our dental funding allocations for 2008-09, and a further 8.5 per cent. uplift in total funds for 2009-10, which takes the total available for dental allocations to 2,257 million (net of patient charge income).
	We have also set up an expanded national dental access programme, headed by Dr. Mike Warburton an experienced clinician and manager, to support managers and clinicians to rapidly expand services where needed.
	NHS dental service in England: An independent review led by Professor Jimmy Steele, published on 22 June 2009 recommends a series of further actions to support access and quality. Piloting of the recommendations will begin from this autumn. This report has been placed in the Library and is also available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_101137

Muscular Dystrophy: Medical Treatments

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will reintroduce Government funding for UK MDEX trials researching treatments for muscular dystrophy.

Gillian Merron: The usual practice of the Department's National Institute for Health Research and of the Medical Research Council (MRC) is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics. Research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. Both organisations welcome applications for support into any aspect of human health and these are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the scientific quality of the proposals submitted.
	The researchers who lead the MDEX Consortium have received funding from the Department and the MRC. They are aware of the public funding routes open to them and how to apply for support for any proposals they have for further research.

Swine Flu

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to primary health care providers on testing of people who think they may have been exposed to the swine influenza virus in cases where an outbreak of the disease has been confirmed; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has published swine flu guidance for health care professionals on its website. This guidance is regularly updated. A copy of the most recent advice has been placed in the Library.
	The HPA has also provided general practitioners (GPs) with algorithms for identifying suspected cases of swine flu in their patients. A copy of the algorithm has also been placed in the Library. If a GP suspects a patient has swine flu, they can notify their regional flu response centre, who will provide a swab kit so that a sample can be sent to a regional laboratory for confirmation.
	The HPA also offers front line clinicians, including GPs or emergency department doctors, direct clinical advice by phone via local flu response centres.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Delivering Better Skills for Better Places Programme

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding has been allocated to the Delivering Better Skills for Better Places programme in each of the next two years; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: The Delivering Better Skills for Better Places action plan was launched by the Housing Minister, John Healey, at the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference on 16 June. The HCA (Homes and Communities Agency) Academy has led this work, with participation and support from over 20 different organisations across the sustainable communities sector. These bodies represent professions integral to successful place-making: regeneration, housing, planning, construction, economic development, architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, local government, property, surveying, civil engineering and sustainability. The action plan will build on many of the successful projects and national, regional and local initiatives already under way by some of the partner organisations. It aims to ensure alignment between these initiatives and available resources to deliver the objectives of the action plan. Each partner has been working towards similar ambitions and Delivering Better Skills for Better Places combines these energies. Such a co-ordinated approach (for example to recruitment and retention across the sector) has been designed to achieve better outcomes.
	The main aims of the action plan are to:
	Attract new entrants and retain existing people in the core professions.
	Develop generic skills in areas like tow carbon, climate change, empowerment, community cohesion, risk sharing, negotiation, process re-modelling, place leadership and partnership working.
	Ensure technical and specialist skills like planning, urban design and skills for changing economic markets are updated in line with new processes, standards, legislation and economic conditions.
	The HCA Academy has allocated 240,000 in each of the next two years to take forward this programme. This allocation will fund detailed research to give an up-to-date and comprehensive picture of employment flows in and out of the sector, and to measure skills gaps so that future actions can be better planned. Other areas of work that will be covered by this funding include development and delivery of training programmes in generic skills (eg cohesion; addressing the downturn) and opening up career progression and entry routes across the professions. Full details of the action plan are available on the HCA Academy website at
	www.hcaacademy.co.uk/betterplaces

Housing Revenue Accounts

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the amount of Housing Revenue Account Subsidy to be paid to each local authority in  (a) 2010-11 and  (b) 2011-12.

Ian Austin: No such estimates have been made. Consultation on the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Determination for 2010-11 will commence at the end of October 2009.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding from the National Affordable Housing Programme was allocated to each region in each of the last 12 quarters.

Ian Austin: The Homes and Communities Agency and formerly the Housing Corporation publish the regional allocation statements on their websites. These provide information on allocations made by region and by quarter for the 2008-09 Affordable Housing Programme.
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/inyourarea
	http://www.housingcorp.gov.uk/server/show/nav.394
	Regional allocation statements for Affordable Housing Programme for previous financial years are also available on the Housing Corporation website.

Repossessions Prevention Fund

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has provided to Bassetlaw local authority to provide small loans for householders facing serious mortgage arrears; and what terms and conditions apply to such loans.

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding has been allocated to each local authority under the Repossessions Prevention Fund.

John Healey: Allocations have been made to local authorities from the Preventing Repossessions Fund based on population and levels of repossession activity. A list of allocations to individual authorities has been placed in the House Library.
	The fund enables local authorities to extend small interest-free loans of up to 5,000 to families at risk of homelessness through repossession or eviction. Detailed terms are set at local level.
	In the current economic conditions, we have acted rapidly to put in place help and support for households struggling with their mortgage at every stage: from free debt advice when problems start, to free support for cases that reach court. Advice is available to all households struggling with their mortgage, with targeted schemes for those in most need.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 21 April 2008,  Official Report, column 1785W, on chronic fatigue syndrome: research, when the Medical Research Council plans to set up a panel of experts from different disciplines to look at the subtypes and causes of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

David Lammy: The Medical Research Council (MRC) set up in 2008 a panel of experts from different disciplines to look more closely at chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). The group is reviewing the current research and will identify additional opportunities with the aim of stimulating further research into CFS/ME, in particular focusing on the causes of the condition. The MRC hopes that this will encourage new research towards understanding the aetiology and subtypes of CFS/ME and lead to an advancement of knowledge in this field and the development of new therapeutic approaches.

Higher Education: Merseyside

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of 18 to 25 year olds resident in  (a) Merseyside and  (b) Crosby were in higher education (i) in 1997 and (ii) on the latest date for which information is available.

David Lammy: The Government do not collect data on the number of adults resident in a particular area who are not in higher education, so it is not possible to calculate the proportion of 18 to 25 year-olds from Merseyside and Crosby who were in higher education in any given year.
	The number of 18 to 25 year-old students from Merseyside and Crosby who were enrolled in higher education are shown as an alternative in the following table. Figures for the 2008-09 academic year will be available in January 2010.
	
		
			  18-25 year old enrolments( 1)  from Merseyside and Crosby constituency( 2)  UK higher education institutions 
			  Academic y ear  Merseyside  Crosby 
			 1997-98 18,290 1,545 
			 2007-08 24,345 1,885 
			 (1) Covers undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled on full-time and part-time courses. (2) Parliamentary constituency are defined by full and valid home postcodes recorded on the HESA student record.  Note:  Figures are on a snapshot basis as at 1 December and are rounded to the nearest five.  Source:  Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Learning and Skills Council: Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much was paid in bonuses to  (a) directors,  (b) senior managers,  (c) specialist delivery managers and  (d) executive support and administration staff in the Learning and Skills Council in each of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: The Department does not hold this level of information. The Learning and Skills Council makes decisions about the payment of bonuses based upon its own business needs. Geoff Russell, the Council's acting chief executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with further information. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Low Pay

John McDonnell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what data  (a) his Department and  (b) the Low Pay Commission collects on the living costs of those aged (i) over 21 years and (ii) 21 years and under.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 22 June 2009
	The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is a key part of the Government's wider strategy for achieving a fair minimum income from work. The aim of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) is to have a NMW that helps as many low paid workers as possible without having an adverse impact on inflation or employment. Neither the Department nor the LPC collects data on living costs as decisions on NMW rates take account of their effect on employment, inflation and competitiveness, not on living costs. Other measures for alleviating poverty such as tax credits take account of an individual's circumstances.

Students: Loans

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department's predecessor took legal advice on the decision to fix the interest rates on post-1998 student loans at zero per cent. for 2009-10.

David Lammy: Yes. The advice was based on the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 and the regulations made under it.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Legal Opinion

Lynne Jones: To ask the Solicitor-General whether it is her policy to request an update of legal advice to Government in circumstances where the evidence was not made available to the Law Officer giving the advice at the time.

Vera Baird: A Government Department seeking Law Officers' advice is responsible for providing all the relevant information necessary for dealing with the request. If, after such advice has been given, a Law Officer becomes aware of further relevant information which may affect the substance of the advice the Attorney-General's Office will raise this with the department and the Law Officers may reconsider the advice.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Energy: Housing

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in rural areas of Ribble Valley constituency have received assistance from his Department and its predecessors to meet or reduce fuel and heating costs in each of the last five years.

David Kidney: The following table indicates the number of households in the rural areas of Ribble Valley that have received heating and insulation measures under the current phase of the Warm Front scheme (since 2005). The data has been compiled using the Office of National Statistic's definition of rural areas.
	
		
			  Ribble Valley, rural areas 
			   Heating  Insulation  Total 
			 2004-05 14 131 145 
			 2005-06 21 80 101 
			 2006-07 83 81 164 
			 2007-08 84 116 200 
			 2008-09 65 99 164 
			 Total 267 507 774

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average sum agreed in settlement was for  (a) vibration white finger and  (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease claims submitted by the 10 solicitors firms with the greatest number of claims for each condition under the Coal Miners Compensation Scheme.

David Kidney: The average settlement for Vibration White Finger (VWF) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) by the 10 claimants' representatives who have submitted the greatest number of claims is shown in the following tables as at 21 June 2009.
	
		
			  COPD 
			  Solicitor  Total claims  Total claims settled by payment  Average damages paid on claims settled by payment () 
			 Beresfords Solicitors 80,817 62,425 2,559 
			 Thompsons Solicitors 58,133 45,600 9,202 
			 Hugh James 56,811 42,214 7,261 
			 Raleys Solicitors 48,914 35,591 5,990 
			 Browell Smith and Co 32,998 24,962 6,538 
			 Avalon Solicitors 32,413 19,354 2,375 
			 Mark Gilbert Morse 25,721 20,641 7,535 
			 Union of Democratic Mineworkers 16,586 13,794 3,097 
			 Barber and Co 14,090 11,494 2,832 
			 Watson Burton LLP 14,072 12,482 4,346 
		
	
	
		
			  VWF 
			  Solicitor  Total claims  Total claims settled by payment  Average damages paid on claims settled by payment () 
			 Thompsons Solicitors 21,231 16,997 16,379 
			 Browell Smith and Co 16,462 11,957 10,854 
			 Beresfords Solicitors 11,619 7,251 10,399 
			 Union of Democratic Mineworkers 11,520 9,946 10,607 
			 Raleys Solicitors 11,279 9,968 12,405 
			 Hugh James 10,637 8,552 11,319 
			 Graysons Solicitors 8,700 7,201 15,537 
			 Moss Solicitors 7,398 5,031 10,514 
			 Watson Burton LLP 5,935 5,066 17,106 
			 Towells Solicitors 5,368 4,219 12,468

Renewable Energy: Waste

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has made an assessment of the competitiveness of the British renewable energy sector specialising in the combustion of end-of-waste products manufactured from used cooking oil; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: We have not made a specific assessment of the competitiveness of renewable energy from used cooking oil. However, we have taken steps to increase the overall competitiveness of renewable technologies in Britain. The Renewables Obligation supports electricity generation from renewable sources. Used cooking oil can receive up to the maximum level of support of two ROCs per MWh.

Wind Power: East of England

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding his Department have allocated for the encouragement of wind power usage in  (a) Mid-Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England since it was established; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: Electricity generated by wind power is eligible for support through the renewables obligation (RO), which was introduced in 2002. As of 1 April 2009, onshore wind is eligible for one renewables obligation certificate (ROC) per MWh of electricity generated, and offshore wind is eligible for 1.5 ROCs/MWh. Whilst we do not maintain data on the number of ROCs claimed per constituency or region, a full register of the number of ROCs claimed by each accredited station can be viewed online at:
	https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportManager.aspx?ReportVisibility=1ReportCategory=0.
	The RO is the successor scheme to the non fossil fuels obligation (NFFO) which supports some onshore wind sites in Eastern England. Levels of support and detail of eligible NFFO sites can be found at
	http://www.nfpa.co.uk/summary.html
	Round 1 offshore wind demonstration projects were eligible for grants under the Offshore Wind Capital Grants Scheme, and offshore farms in the East of England region have been awarded funding through this as follows:
	
		
			  Spend by financial year 
			   million 
			   Project 
			   Scroby Sands  Inner Dowsing  Lynn Offshore 
			 2004-05 7.5 0.00 0.00 
			 2005-06 2.3 0.00 0.00 
			 2006-07 0.10 6.50 6.50 
			 2007-08 0.10 0.00 0.00 
			 2008-09 0.00 3.20 3.20 
			 2009-10 0.00 0.10 0.10 
			 2010-11 0.00 0.10 0.10 
			 2011-12 0.00 0.10 0.10 
		
	
	Under the Clear Skies Scheme, which ran from 2003 to 2007, 71,900 was spent on micro wind installations for householders in the East of England region. We do not have the figure for spend on community-scale installations on a regional basis under this scheme.
	The amount of funding that has been allocated under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme for the encouragement of wind power usage in  (a) Mid-Bedfordshire constituency and  (b) the East of England region in each year since its introduction in 2006 is as follows:
	
		
			  Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 1wind power allocation( 1) 
			   
			   Grant amount  Paid amount 
			  Householders   
			  2006-07   
			 East of England 155,477.18 36,615.14 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  2007-08   
			 East of England 15,069.40 133,532.02 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  2008-09   
			 East of England 40,000.00 20,000.00 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  2009-10   
			 East of England 5,568.50 10,000.00 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  Communities   
			  2006-07   
			 East of England 67,708.93 0.00 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  2007-08   
			 East of England 0.00 21,179.45 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  2008-09   
			 East of England 0.00 26,472.69 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  2009-10   
			 East of England 0.00 15,707.94 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  Stream 2a   
			  2007-08   
			 East of England 104,829.65 0.00 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  2008-09   
			 East of England 0.00 10,297.65 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			
			  Stream 2b   
			 2007-08   
			 East of England 133,456.50 0.00 
			 Mid Bedfordshire 0.00 0.00 
			 (1) Shows only committed grantsie does not included expired, withdrawn or rejected applications. 
		
	
	
		
			  Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 2 
			  East of England  Number of projects  Total value of grant () 
			 2007-08 19 271,082.78 
			 2008-09 1 15,831.61 
			  Note: Of which one is for Mid Bedfordshire (2008-0915,831.61)

HOME DEPARTMENT

Crime

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2009,  Official Report, column 185W, on crime, when he expects incident data for 2008-09 to be available.

Alan Johnson: Data sets for incidents as defined within the National Incident Category List (NICL) are now available for 2008-09 and are provided in the table. NICL is subject to annual review and amendment, when some categories may be deleted or revised, or new ones created. The data are normally used for management information only and are not subject to the detailed checks that apply for National Statistics publications.
	 The national incident category list (NICL)
	 Transport:
	Road Traffic Collision (RTC)Death
	RTCSerious Injury
	RTCMinor Injury
	RTCDamage Only
	Highway Disruption
	Road Related Offence
	Rail/Air/Marine Incident Not Recorded Elsewhere
	 Antisocial Behaviour:
	Abandoned Vehicles(Not Stolen Or Causing An Obstruction)
	Animal Problems
	Begging/Vagrancy
	Hoax Calls To Emergency Services
	Inappropriate Use/Sale/Possession Of Fireworks
	Malicious/Nuisance Communications
	Noise
	Prostitution Related Activity
	Rowdy/NuisanceEnvironmental Damage / Littering
	Rowdy/NuisanceNeighbours
	Rowdy/NuisanceRowdy or Inconsiderate Behaviour
	Street Drinking
	Solvent Misuse
	Trespass
	Vehicle Nuisance/Inappropriate Vehicle Use
	 Public Safety/Welfare:
	Abandoned Call
	Absconder/AWOL
	Alarm: Monitoring StationFalse-Active
	Alarm: Monitoring StationFalse-Withdrawn
	Alarm: Police Installed
	Alarm: Premises Audible only
	Breach Of Injunction/Court Order
	Civil Disputes
	Collapse/Illness/Injury/Trapped
	Concern for Safety
	Domestic Incident
	Firearms
	Immigration
	Industrial Incident/Accident
	Insecure Premises/Vehicles
	Licensing
	Missing Person-High Risk
	Missing Person-Medium Risk
	Missing Person-Low Risk
	Missing Person-Unauthorised Absence
	Natural Disaster/Incident/Warning
	Pets/Domesticated Animals
	Protest/Demonstration
	Sudden Death
	 Public Safety/Welfare:
	Suspicious Circumstances
	Suspicious Package/Object
	Truancy
	Wildlife
	 Administration:
	Bail/Curfew: Checks/Breach/Wanted Person
	Cancel/Exit/Error
	Complaints Against Police
	Contact Record
	Duplicate
	Lost/Found Property/Found Person
	Messages
	Police Generated Resource Activity
	Pre-Planned Events
	Test/Training
	 Qualifiers:
	 Hate/discrimination:
	Racial
	Religion
	Disability
	Sexual Orientation
	Transgender
	 Qualifiers:
	 O ther characteristics:
	Alcohol
	Assistance to Other Public Agency
	Call Made with Good Intent
	Cold Calling
	Critical Incident
	Other Intoxicants
	Domestic Abuse
	Drugs
	Firearms
	Information Only
	Major Incident
	Mental Health
	Other Public Agency/Police Force Dealing
	Persistent Caller
	Weapons
	Vulnerable Child/Young Person
	Youth Related age under 10
	Youth Related age 10 to 17 years

Offenders: Deportation

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign national prisoners were deported in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Johnson: The chief executive of the UK Border Agency has regularly written to the Home Affairs Select Committee in order to provide them with all the most robust and accurate information available. Copies of these letters are available in the Library of the House.

Police Community Support Officers: Clothing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of each representation he has received on the issuing of stab-proof vests for police community support officers since their introduction;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of each item of correspondence between Ministers and the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police in relation to the issuing of stab-proof vests for police community support officers since January 2007;
	(3)  whether he plans to ensure that all police community support officers are issued with stab-proof vests; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what advice the Home Office Scientific Development Branch has given to police forces on the issuing of stab-proof vests for police community support officers, with particular reference to the West Midlands Police authority area;
	(5)  what response he has made to the request to his Department from Unison to provide police community support officers with stab-proof vests;
	(6)  when he expects next to meet the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police to discuss the issuing of stab-proof vests for police community support officers; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: holding answer 12 June 2009
	The provision of police equipment is an operational matter for chief officers informed by standards on protective equipment developed and published by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB). HOSDB develop and publish standards for a range of protective equipment for the police and advises police forces and the Government on protective equipment for police use (including PCSOs), ensuring that officers have the equipment they need to protect themselves and the public. The Home Office wrote to those forces who did not issue protective armour to community support officers to ask for clarification on their decisions. Those forces, including West Midlands Police, provided full responses which the Home Office forwarded to the right hon. Gentleman on 27 July 2007. The correspondence relating to West Midlands Police will be placed in the Library as requested.

Terrorism

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have undertaken Project Argus training.

Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 June 2009,  Official Report, column 609W.

Theft: Motor Vehicles

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has issued to police forces on responses to incidents of theft of a vehicle with a payload of oil, gas or petrol; whether each police force uses the same procedures in such instances; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: The Home Office has issued no guidance to police forces on the specific issue of responses to incidents of theft of a vehicle with a pay load of oil, gas or petrol. The National Police Improvement Agency has not issued central guidance to forces on this specific matter, and it is for forces to determine appropriate procedures locally.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Demos

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether his Department has any contracts with the think-tank Demos.

Shaun Woodward: The Northern Ireland Office has no contracts with the think-tank Demos.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on hospitality and entertainment in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: The following table shows the Northern Ireland Office's expenditure, excluding Agencies and Executive NDPBs, on hospitality in the last five years:
	
		
			  Hospitality 
			  000 
			 2008-09 190 
			 2007-08 124 
			 2006-07 124 
			 2005-06 88 
			 2004-05 108 
		
	
	Due to the high volume of transactions within these expenditure areas it would only be possible to extract entertainment costs at disproportionate cost.
	Hospitality events include receptions hosted at Hillsborough Castle, which acknowledge the contribution made by a wide range of people to life in Northern Ireland. These include representatives from the voluntary and business sectors and also the police and armed forces (including those returning from active service in Afghanistan), in recognition of their enormous contributions to Northern Ireland Society.

Departmental Press Subscriptions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what newspapers are delivered to the private office of each Minister in his Department; and at what cost in the latest period for which figures are available.

Shaun Woodward: I receive the following newspapers:
	 Daily Telegraph
	 Daily Mirror
	 Daily Express
	 Daily Mail
	 The Guardian
	 The Independent
	 The Times
	 Irish Independent
	 The Sun,
	 Daily Star
	 Financial Times
	 Irish News
	 Irish Times
	 Belfast Newsletter
	 Belfast Telegraph: AM
	 Belfast Telegraph: PM
	 Evening Standard (1st Edition)
	Total cost per week: 105.87
	The Minister of State receives the following newspapers:
	 Daily Telegraph
	 The Guardian
	 Financial Times
	 The Sun
	 Daily Mail
	 The Times
	 The Independent
	 Irish Times
	 Belfast Newsletter
	 Irish News
	 Belfast Telegraph PM
	Total cost per week: 55.01
	The cost is for newspapers both in Belfast and London as Ministers use both locations.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa: Conflict Resolution

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made towards meeting the G8 pledge to train 20,000 African peacekeepers.

Gareth Thomas: The pledge by G8 countries at Gleneagles in 2005 to train 20,000 peacekeepers in Africa has been exceeded.

Departmental Food

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what percentage of the  (a) meat,  (b) fruit and  (c) vegetables procured by his Department in the last 12 months was produced in the UK.

Michael Foster: A second report on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and HM Prison Service was published in November 2008, covering the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. This report and the first one covering the previous year can be found at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/awareness.htm
	The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat, fruit and vegetable categories purchased. The overall percentage of domestically produced food for the Department for International Development was 55 per cent.